Caliga Travel Alert!

[citizen k]

Raccoon meat at South Carolina store must go, officials say
By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) – Looking for raccoon meat? You won't find it at a country convenience store in South Carolina after state health inspectors told employees to throw out their supply.

Tipped off by a complaint, inspectors recently found the cleaned raccoon meat in plastic bags inside one of the store's coolers, along with bagged ice.

"In my 28 years with the agency, it's the first time I've heard of this," Thom Berry, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, said on Wednesday.

"My inspectors, they see all kinds of things, but this is something new even to them."

The Lucky 7 store -- located in Gadsden, near the state capital of Columbia -- removed the meat upon request, Berry said. But when inspectors went back several days later, they found it outside the building near some trash.

"We instructed the employees to bag it, pour bleach on it, tie it up and put it in the Dumpster," Berry said.

No law bans the sale of raccoon meat in South Carolina, but state and federal officials do not certify it as being safe for human consumption.

"It's kind of like squirrel," said Brett Witt, spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources. "People do eat it. It's kind of on the lower end of animals. It's not as popular as deer or rabbit. There is a danger of ingesting any wild animal without proper preparation."

[The Brain]

What was the problem again?

[Caliga]

Princesca's grandfather once proclaimed coon meat "damn good".

[Malthus]

Princesca's grandfather once proclaimed coon meat "damn good".

We can only hope he meant "raccoon" by that comment. 

[The Brain]

Princesca's grandfather once proclaimed coon meat "damn good".

We can only hope he meant "raccoon" by that comment. 

Her grandmother OTOH...

[derspiess]

I'm sure Cal has plenty of raccoons out behind his house he could shoot & have one of his in-laws cook up for him.

My grandma made some kind of squirrel stew from squirrels my brother & I hunted, but I couldn't bring myself to try it.

[Caliga]

Actually I don't see raccoons that often at my house for some reason...

Possums, yes.  Deer, yes.  Wild cats, hell yes . Rabbits, fuck yeah.  Coyotes, once or twice.  But raccoons... not so much.

[KRonn]

I ate racoon once at a shooting club game dinner. Not bad. It was a while ago, but I think the closest to it would be a bit like beef.